Published: February 22, 2026 at 8:20 pm
England, powered by an all-round performance by Will Jacks, maintained their winning streak in Sri Lanka with a 51-run win in a low scoring Super Eight game of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Kandy on Sunday.
On their recent white-ball tour to the Asian country, England had defeated Sri Lanka 3-0 in the T20I series. It was just the kind of win needed to bring their cagey World Cup campaign back on track. In the group stage, they had lost to West Indies and were taken to the brink by Nepal and Italy.
After electing to field first, Sri Lanka used the home conditions well to restrict England to 146 for 9. But their chase never took off, as the hosts found themselves in trouble at 34 for 5 in powerplay. On a slow pitch, the co-hosts offered little resistance and were skittled out for 95 in 16.4 overs.
England’s gamble of bringing Will Jacks early in the innings paid off, with the off-spinner delivering an incredible spell of 3/22 in four overs. Jacks had also scored a vital 21 runs and was adjudged the Player of the Match for his all-round show.
Jofra Archer, meanwhile, drew the first blood by sending the in-form Pathum Nissanka back. Archer finished with 2/20 in three overs, while Adil Rashid and Liam Dawson also picked up two wickets. Captain Dasun Shanaka (30) was the only batter to make a substantial contribution.
“Beautiful birthday present, an awesome effort to get over the line and bowl them out for 100. Don’t think there were any demons, spinners on both sides used the pace really well, lack of pace was creating chances. We had a chat and adapted really well. It was slow, hard to time, Salty played exceptionally to get 60, with everyone playing around him. Not the fluent Phil Salt we are used to, but he got us to a score. Not concerned about Buttler’s form, he’s a powerhouse, arguably our best white-ball player ever, lacking a bit of confidence at the moment but I’d rather he started like this and finish with a flourish,” said England skipper Harry Brook.
“Spin worked for them, we’ve played a lot here and we knew that would play a part. Jacks was annoyed with how he got out, and he said he bowls better when he’s angry. Don’t need to vary lines, more about pace. We got reward for that with caught-and-bowled and a few caught on the boundary. Perfect adaptation to circumstances. Feel like we can play on any surface. Jos hasn’t fired yet, but if we get on a good wicket he’s going to get a hundred. Phil Salt, too. Once we figure the powerplay out and get on top with the bat, we’re going to be a hard team to beat,” he said.
England struggle with the bat
Earlier in the day, England also struggled with the bat. Jos Buttler’s agonising stay at the wicket ended as he was trapped lbw to Dunith Wellalage after an attempted switch hit while Jacob Bethell was dismissed after taking a wild swing on the first ball off Maheesh Theekshana. England had only 37 for 2 to show in powerplay.
Tom Banton added to the early nerves as he was run out, courtesy a direct hit from skipper Dasun Shanaka. The home team rotated their spin options superbly in conducive conditions. Left-arm spinner Wellalage was the pick of the bowlers, finishing with 3 for 26, while Theekshana and pacer Dilshan Madushanka claimed two wickets apiece.
Phil Salt was the only one who withstood the pressure, bringing up a half-century off 36 balls. But the opener started to struggle physically and was dismissed for 62, with the help of six fours and two sixes. Will Jacks’ defiant but brief innings lasted only 14 balls, with the lower-batter batter contributing 21.
Really disappointing, says Shanaka
“Really disappointing, but we had a lot of positives with the ball. We kept them to a score 20 runs (under par). I expected my players to bat well. The pitch played well, was a bit slow. With the lights on it settled, but we batted badly. It’s not that they bowled really well, we played some rash shots at critical intervals,” said Lanka skipper Dasun Shanaka.
“Absolutely, we have five main bowlers, it’s a nice attack to have so we can restrict sides. Discussion was to take it deep. On these wickets, you have to take the right options and positive options. One bad game is not affordable in World Cup we need to bounce back. The top four has done well in recent past so I’m sure they will do will in upcoming games,” he added.
Brief scores: England 146 for nine in 20 overs (Phil Salt 2, Will Jacks 21; Dilshan Madushanka 2/25, Dunith Wellalage 3/26, Maheesh Theekshana 2/21) beat Sri Lanka 95 in 16.4 overs (Dasun Shanaka 30; Will Jacks 3/22, Jofra Archer 2/20, Liam Dawson 2/27, Adil Rashid 2/13).
